Alstroemeria - Peruvian Lily

 

A friend knew how much I enjoy cut flowers in the house, and during the winter I have none!  She surprised me with a bouquet of white ones.  They are alstroemeria, also known as Peruvian Lily.

It was such a welcome surprise gift.  D cut the stems to different lengths to make a lovely arrangement.

There were enough to make some small vases for the bathroom.  I really like to have flowers in there because I have time to enjoy them, and there's not much else to enjoy looking at.  (I am well past the age when looking in a mirror is fascinating!)

. . 

They were still lovely after two weeks!  Wow - 

We thought they were so cheery that when we saw a sale at Price Chopper, I asked the Instacart shopper to get me a bunch.  

When she asked me which color I wanted, I had no idea, so I asked her to get the freshest looking one.  Some of these shoppers are really wonderful.  When Cristina delivered the flowers, she said that she had asked the florist which were the most fresh, and the florist said, "Take these, they came in yesterday."  It was a lovely mix of colors.

The white ones have been here 17 days!  Some are just thinking about dropping petals.  They are from Grand Union.  The others have been here three days.  They are from Price Chopper.  We'll see how long they last.

. . 

As we sit here in the middle of a snowstorm, I can enjoy some wonderful flowers.  Thank you, K!  

I never even thought about buying flowers in winter.  They have brightened my home.

Daffodowndilly

 Daffodowndilly              A poem by A.A. Milne

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,

She wore her greenest gown;

She turned to the south wind

And curtsied up and down.

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbour, 

"Winter is dead."

~:~

Would that were true. . . 

This is the view next to my desk on March 12.  It's 21º and has been snowing all day.  We will end up with about 9 inches of snow on the ground.  The winds were fierce, and much of the snow has blown off the trees . . . but not all.

It's time for this to end and bring on the flowers!

Last year, the first daffodil was March 31.

But that was surprised with the April Fools weather joke.

We were really ready for spring last year.  The gardens have the temporary fences to keep the rabbits and woodchucks from eating the tender shoots.  The fences can come down in mid-summer.

Last year, we picked some forsythia for forcing on April 7, and this was our first bouquet (April 10).

I guess I have a while to wait.  Sigh.

We did have lots of crocus against the house last year on March 13,

so there's still hope. . . 

In the FWIW category, the word daffodowndilly is an old one.

Collins Dictionary shows it as appearing 1565-75.

They spell it with an a:  daffadowndilly.